Boyfriend of slain Farmington woman in custody

A missing persons call in Farmington has led police to a man they believe killed his girlfriend, who was an employee of the city's district court.

The man Farmington officials suspect in the killing of 29-year-old Kaitlin Elizabeth Hehir is in custody and expected to be arraigned Tuesday.

Unconfirmed reports indicated Hehir was dismembered with a handheld saw in her home on the 23800 block of Colchester Drive. The Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the cause of death as manual strangulation.

The investigation -- about which Farmington police remain tight-lipped -- has detectives piecing together the weekend activities of the pair.

Hehir's boyfriend, who lived with her, called Farmington police after 10 p.m. Saturday. He told police she dropped him off at home and left for a party around midnight the previous day, and she hadn't been home since.

Farmington Public Safety Director Robert Schulz said detectives began to call Hehir's friends, who all reported they hadn't heard from her since she left a party to pick her boyfriend up from work. As a part of standard investigation procedure, police checked the home for signs of foul play.

"There was evidence that suggested the problem occurred at home," said Schulz.

The search turned up what looked like bloody plastic in the house.

After questioning the boyfriend, detectives found there had been an argument between them, which turned physical. While searching the home on a warrant, Farmington police -- with assistance from Oakland County forensic investigators -- found Hehir's body. Details were not released.

The man was detained, arrested and later confessed to killing Hehir, Schulz said.

"This is a very sad situation and our prayers go out to the victim's family," said Schulz. "I can't officially confirm anything until the full investigation goes to the prosecutor's office."

Hehir had worked at the 47th District Court in Farmington Hills for more than four years. That conflict of interest has officials looking for a different venue to arraign the man.

"He'll be arraigned tomorrow, but where has not been finalized yet," Schulz said on Monday.

Hehir's family has asked media to refrain from contacting them. Oakland County Medical Examiner death investigators reported that Hehir's funeral arrangements have not been made yet.

Gruesome cases

Farmington has not had a homicide since the summer of 2005, according to the Farmington Department of Public Safety.

If media reports are true, and Hehir was dismembered Saturday in her home, her death would be one of the few gruesome cases in Michigan to reach the public.

In 2008, Stephen Grant was convicted for the 2007 murder and dismemberment of his wife, Tara Grant. According to police, Grant scattered his wife's body parts around their Washington Township home and later disposed of some outdoors.

In Allen Park in 2012, Roger Bowling was charged in the deaths of Dielle Greenway, 32, and her fiancé, 42-year-old Chris Hall. The couple were found in the Detroit river, beheaded with their limbs sawn off. That cases continues to go through the court system.

In 1985, Grosse Pointe psychologist Dr. W. Alan Canty was killed and cut up with a Ginsu knife after becoming involved with a prostitute in Detroit's Cass Corridor. Leading a double life, he kept giving his money to Dawn Spens, until he was broke. In an argument, Spens' pimp, John (Lucky) Fry, crushed Canty's head with a baseball bat, then dismembered Canty and dumped parts of his body along I-75. The case was immortalized in the book "Masquerade," by Detroit reporter Lowell Cauffiel.